1. Field of the Invention
A novelty device combines a confection and a multi-color light filter on a light source to give different impressions and illusions to an observer.
2. Description of Related Art
Novelty devices combining a confection and illumination means are old. One example of this is U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,748, issued Apr. 3, 1990 to W. Schlotter et al. This patent discloses a confection that includes a light source that projects through the confection to illuminate it. Another confection light combination is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,373, issued Nov. 28, 1995 to T. Coleman et al. This patent discloses projecting a light upwardly and outwardly from the confection. Still another confection light combination is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,033, issued Mar. 31, 1998 to T. Coleman et al. This patent combines a confection, sound and light with the light flashing in concert with sound production.
The concept of having a multi-color disk that can be used to project different colors is old per se. U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,083, issued Aug. 15, 1989 to Y. Wakimoto, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,789, issued Sep. 7, 1999 to A. Chan, disclose a multi-color disk that can be moved by gravity and/or inertia due to a tilting device housing the loosely held disk. U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,865, issued Sep. 12, 1967 to T. Southwick and U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,346, issued Aug. 6, 1991 to B. Cimock, disclose a multi-color disk that can be moved by rotation of a tab provided on the disk. U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,054, issued Jul. 16, 1996 to C. Liaw, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,352, issued Feb. 13, 2001 to S. Crosbie, teach confections that are pivotal on a holder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,414, issued Nov. 25, 1997 to J. Jeng, provides for internal and external lighting along a screwdriver for illumination and signaling, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,606, issued Oct. 24, 2000 to R. Fernandez et al, disclose a translucent confection illuminated internally by multi-color blinking lights from a confection holder. The confection can take a variety of colors and shapes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,377, issued May 10, 1994 to T. Joja, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,697 disclose the projection of images.
This invention relates to an improvement over the flashlight candy combination described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,748, issued Apr. 3, 1990. In that patent a multi-color candy has light directed to the different colored linear sections through apertures in a connector. It has been found that multi-color effects can be obtained by placing a multi-color transparent and/or translucent disk between the light bulb and candy. The disk can be stationary or movable and the candy and an internal light conducting element within the candy can be shaped to deflect, reflect or refract light.
The novelty device of this invention combines a confection with a multi-color light filter placed between the confection and the light source. By relative movement between the observer, confection and/or the multi-color light filter, different light patterns, colors and impressions are achieved by one observing the confection. The change in color and/or color patterns can be brought about by gravity, manual or mechanical movement of the confection or color filters. The color filters can contain opaque areas that define an image and the confection can be contoured to obstruct and reflect and diffuse light to yield variable patterns.